The Dutchman, who is uner pressure as as a result of United’s dismal recent form, claimed he was being questioned in a disrespectful manner and complained that his treatment by the media had been “awful and horrible”.

“I don’t think that I have ever mentioned it,” he said, when asked whether tghere was any truth to him offering his resignation to United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

“You make your own stories and I am concerned that people believe what you write.

“This is the third time I am sacked and I am still sitting here. You write all these stories and then I have to answer questions about them. I am not doing that, it is awful and horrible.”

Van Gaal did concede, though, that Friday’s fourth-round Cup tie at Derby County had become a must-win game.

“We cannot lose to a Championship club,” he said. “Maybe then you will have written the truth [about him being sacked] because sometimes it happens.”